It’s that time! Time for you to tell us what you’re reading!
EllenM: After a long period of being totally bored by and sick of most historical romance, I’m suddenly finding myself enjoying it again! Just finished A Scandalous Kind of Duke by Mia Vincy ( A | BN | K | AB ) which was delightfully full of pining and longing. I also may have stayed up way too late last night binging the first couple volumes of the manga series My Boss’s Kitten which is fairly fluffy and ridiculous fun if you are not immediately squicked out by the boss/employee thing. The series description calls the male MC “sadistic” which seems misleading as from what I can tell he’s mostly just (consensually) really horny, haha. Its sexy and silly fun but I probably wouldn’t pay money for it if it was not on comixology unlimited.
Susan: I’m taking a leaf out of everyone else’s book and listening to the audiobook of All Systems Red. ( A | BN | K | AB ) Murderbot remains my favourite character; its arc across the series is that it doesn’t want to be more human, it has social anxiety and all of these tv shows to watch, and is thus the most relatable character of all.
Sarah: The narrator is so good too.
Maya: Twinsies, I’m also doing a Murderbot relisten! Along with Murderbot, I recently heard an old interview of Akwaeke Emezi and now I’m kinda obsessed with their writing, so I’m listening to You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty.
Shana: CANNOT wait to hear what you think, Maya.
Kiki: My friend sent me A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall for Christmas and I’m so, so, so excited to read it once I finish my other behemoths.
Sneezy: The English translation for season 2 of I Raised a Black Dragon is out on Manta and I’M SO HAPPY!!!
The newest chapter kicked in strong with Noa back in her own body, and Leonard low key loosing his shit at how attractive she is. His 19th century ass cannot with her 21st century shorts and now her running around in a chemise.
Tara: I’m reading The Fixer by Lee Winter, ( A | BN | K ) which is the first part of a duology. I’ve been excited about this one for a while because she’s one of my favourite authors and she’s showing the romance of a villain who deeply fucked over one of my favourite characters ever. I’m VERY curious to see how this character gets redeemed.
Elyse: I stayed up all night reading A Long Time Coming by Meghan Quinn. It’s a super cute, sexy, funny friends to lovers. My only issue is the hero is names Breaker.
Breaker.
I kept thinking Beaker.
What are you reading? Tell us in the comments below!
Sometimes I just want to read hockey romances, for some reason. I recently discovered MM author Brigham Vaughn’s Rules of the Game series. I skipped book 2 since the premise didn’t appeal to me, quite enjoyed book 3, skimmed most of book 4 for the overall series story arc since the romance was meh, really liked book 5 and I’m now a quarter through book 6. In Star Wars style, book 1 comes out in March, having originally been a free novella. I’m really looking forward to that one.
Vaughn’s writing is smooth, although her dialogue is sometimes a bit wooden. But her books are so damn looong! I probably never would have started the first one if I’d noticed it was around the 450 page mark. I’ve never read a contemporary romance that couldn’t be told in 100 pages fewer than that. I haven’t exactly been bored as these books each crawl to a conclusion, since there’s plenty going on in them, but I do think this author (along with many others I’ve read) could use a strong editor to shape good material into a tighter and well paced book.
While packing to move house, I’m listening to the excellent audiobooks of Dal Maclean’s Bitter Legacy MM crime / detective series, all of which have dark and twisty plots with side serves of angsty, gritty (at times non-manogamous) romance. Having already read and loved the books I’m enjoying the audiobooks even more, thanks to Gary Furlong’s vivid characterisations. Highly recommend.
Laura Dave – The Last Thing He Told Me
Hannah is still adjusting to life as a new wife and new stepmom when her husband is caught up in a scandal at the tech company he works for and disappears. She and her stepdaughter go on a cross-country journey to figure out the truth of what happened.
This isn’t my usual kind of read but for the most part it was really fun. The plot machinations, especially toward the climax, were kind of silly, but I honestly really enjoyed seeing a 40ish woman trying to connect with a teenage girl who isn’t hers and wants nothing to do with her, but whom she clearly loves deeply. I feel like Stepmother/stepchild isn’t a sort of thing I see often in media unless its being portrayed stereotypically and negatively. Overall, a fun little thriller.
Jane Austen – Persuasion (reread)
I try to tackle a couple of rereads a year, and Persuasion isn’t a book I’ve read since I was closer to Anne Elliott’s age (I am now a full decade beyond Austen’s “decrepit” “old” heroine) (sarcasm fully intended.) This was never my favorite, and I think I’ve pinned down why…I honestly didn’t like Captain Wentworth all that much. I was also startled to realize that Anne and Fredrick barely even interact on the page, at least until the letter. She has all kinds of interesting interactions and conversations with other characters and….just kind of stares at Captain Wentworth and muses. And he stares back and gets jealous and doesn’t use his words. It’s not really an engaging partnership in any sense.
Anyway, that’s not to say I didn’t like it. Austen always has her high points. But I was much more engaged by the side characters and their dramas (give me the book on Louisa and Benwick!) than the honestly, to my mind, kind of dull Anne & Fredrick. Also I love the ridiculous Mary Musgrove and I’m not gonna apologize for it lol.
I feel like my reading has been fairly dire this second half of January. Both in quality and quantity. Lots of dnfs and I’m currently slogging along with a mystery by an author I used to love and am coming back to after a long hiatus. I think I’m going to finish this, but after that, the hiatus may continue. So what did I read and like?
Definitely LUCY ON THE WILD SIDE by Kerry Rea. Maybe a B? A zookeeper who likes animals more than people clashes with a TV celebrity (think Steven Irwin) when they have to make a show together at the Columbus zoo. I have to issue the caveat first of all that if you have a low tolerance for sitcom/embarrassment comedy this is *not* the book for you. I don’t think it’s a coincidence the heroine’s name is Lucy, let me put it that way. She makes some weird choices and has some weird tics for the sake of “it will make the book funny” (I suspect). Some of them were genuinely funny though, especially as I got later into the book. Laugh out loud funny for me (very much ymmv) Her last book THE WEDDING RINGER felt more like fiction with romantic elements, this seemed more like a romance. And I definitely liked the romance on this one. It reminded me a little bit of WELL MET in that you only get the heroine’s point of view and the hero seems to blow hot and cold with his personality. I’m sure that could drive a lot of readers bonkers, but I love it and it was done fairly well here.
There is one thing that seemed so obvious to me that the heroine was really stubborn about (half of a big misunderstanding) Another big caveat is that even though this is mostly wacky comedy (without giving too much away) there is discussion of animals in peril and other not good things happening to animals. Trying to be deliberately vague here. Definitely google for content warnings if that might upset you. It will sound like with all these caveats I didn’t like the book, but I definitely did. I just think it was not for everyone (no book is, really) and took a while to settle into a tone that I understood.
Much like THE POWER OF FUN by Catherine Price made me realize that I’m not a particularly “fun” person and I don’t like “fun.” THE ART OF GATHERING by Priya Parker made me realize I don’t ever want to organize a party, meeting, book club, etc, ever again. But whereas THE POWER OF FUN pissed me off, THE ART OF GATHERING impressed me. She also helped me understand why I usually hate bridal and baby showers. I’m sure if you had one, it was lovely. I didn’t like mine, nor the majority of the ones I went to. Just saying.
The author has worked on all sorts of meetings and dialogues and she was very good at delineating specifically the kind of things that make any type of gathering go well or go poorly. A lot of things that people might know instinctively, but she spells it out. And I’m one of those people that needs it spelled out. Does anyone remember Mary on the MTM show and her terrible parties? Yeah, mine are like that. I think my last party I hosted was when I was about 26, 27? And it went so badly, I said, never again. One of the examples I can think of is the author talks about the fact that when you’re the host, you have power and you have to exercise that power carefully, not too much, not too little. She mentions in work events, hosts often over exercise their power and a meeting or conference is very dry or even counterproductive b/c everyone is on guard for making a faux pas that will ruin their career. In social “fun” gatherings, sometimes the host doesn’t exercise enough of the power in the name of being “chill” then people can often wander around aimlessly, the party doesn’t gel, and worst of all some blowhard takes over and bores everyone to death. I think this is why a lot of my parties didn’t go well. I hate telling other people what to do and I just want everyone to just get to hang out and do their thing. My friends have often been very different from each other and not a “friend group” on their own, so this rarely went well.
So, still not throwing any parties, but I found this an interesting cultural/self-helpy kind of read, particularly as we transition back to more in person events.
In my unofficial mother-son book club 😉 I really enjoyed MIDDLE SCHOOL MISADVENTURES series by Jason Platt. The line art and style is a little bit CALVIN AND HOBBES. The boy lives in his imagination much like Calvin, but he’s older and it’s more about a relationship with his dad and friends. No stuffed tigers (that I noticed).
I read FINALE: LATE CONVERSATIONS WITH STEPHEN SONDHEIM by D.T. Max and it was good for a Sondheim completist, but I had a bit of nagging feeling that if Sondheim had not recently died, it might not have even been published. I got the definite impression that Sondheim liked the author personally, but that he was also a very private/guarded person who was never really going to say all the things the author wanted him to say. And that makes it a little uncomfortable to read at times. Meryl Streep makes a fun little cameo.
LOVED:
– Do I Know You? – Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Just wonderful! Great exploration of the way relationships and people change over time and the work they require. Could have been very workshop-y but it was instead deeply romantic and the love the characters have for each other is felt through the whole book.
– Begin Again – Emma
Perfect YA Romance! Great slow-burn, well developed relationship and world building. This would make a great tv series.
Hated:
– Thorne Princess – L.J. Shen
Very terrible!
– The Reunion – Kayla Olson
Deeply boring. Every character felt character-less and devoid of personality. It just gave absolutely nothing.
Unfortunately the books I want to read are on hold at the library. I believe they’ve been excellently reviewed here…..Ninth House, Spells for Forgetting, and Emily wildes encyclopedia of faeries.
Had a bit of a slump after the holidays, but getting back my reading energy now. Recently finished Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, which I got for Christmas. I’ve been meaning to read it for a long time, and I devoured it. Eager to rewatch the miniseries with Richard Armitage now!
Currently reading Grady Hendrix’s How to Sell a Haunted House, and I think this I my least favorite Hendrix novel yet. The first half was working well for me, but in the second half I found myself beginning to lose interest. But good enough to finish, at least.
PART ONE
Five m/m sports romances dominated my reading for the past two weeks. Three were excellent, one was good, and another one…well, let’s just say I simply wasn’t feeling it.
It’s only mid-January and I’ve already discovered a new auto-buy writer and added one of their books to my Favorites of 2023 list. The writer is KD Casey who writes m/m baseball romances. I read their first three books (UNWRITTEN RULES, FIRE SEASON, and ONE TRUE OUTCOME). I can’t overstate how well-written these books are, full of subtle instances of show-not-tell, along with Casey’s obvious love for and bone-deep knowledge of the game of baseball. The way Casey weaves the elements of baseball into the fabric of a romance is done with incredible finesse: I’d say Casey reveals an understanding of baseball similar to Taylor Fitzpatrick’s understanding of hockey—and you won’t get higher praise from me than to liken a writer to Fitzpatrick.
In UNWRITTEN RULES, Zach feels isolated from his teammates by a number of factors: his religion (Judaism, in a sport heavily populated by Catholics and Evangelical Christians), his hearing loss (he wears a hearing aid in one ear), and most of all his deeply-closeted sexuality. He lives in constant fear that he will be inadvertently outed—and Casey does an excellent job of showing how exhausting it is for Zach to have to be hypervigilant about words, touches, eye-contact, along with the ever-present worry that he’ll be identified by a Grindr hookup or be photographed in the “wrong” club or bar. UNWRITTEN RULES moves back and forth in time, starting with Zach growing closer to his teammate Eugenio, the development of their loving relationship and its eventually collapse, then two years later as they grapple with the possibility of being a couple and the implications this would have for them while still playing professionally. One of the many things I loved about UNWRITTEN RULES was how it shows that every person’s coming out situation is different and that coming out is often a continuing process not necessarily a single declaration. I loved everything about UNWRITTEN RULES: it’s on my list of favorite reads of the year. Highly recommended.
In FIRE SEASON (the second book in the Unwritten Rules series), both MCs are working through challenges: Charlie, a star pitcher in the midst of a divorce, suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. Reid, a recovering alcoholic who almost lost his career because of his drinking, has to work every day on choosing not to drink, on being accountable, and on not lying to himself or others. Charlie (straight up until now) falls for Reid, but Reid (who has a flirtatious nature and is relatively open about his bisexuality) isn’t initially sure about getting involved with a teammate, but acknowledges the almost manic lure of doing something, “even if it’s not a good idea. Especially because it isn’t.” On the surface, Reid appears to be the more “challenged” character, so it takes a while to realize that Charlie—a quiet man of few words—has to deal with his own issues, particularly because the “being a great pitcher” part of the equation comes easily for him and he has a tendency to assume that everything else comes as easily, making him overly optimistic where Reid is more realistic about how games, love, and life might play out. Although it’s not quite in the angsty stratosphere of UNWRITTEN RULES, FIRE SEASON is another wonderful book from KD Casey and is also highly recommended.
ONE TRUE OUTCOME, although not part of Casey’s Unwritten Rules series, is another excellent baseball romance, this time featuring the age-gap trope. Matt is an older veteran player, reaching the end of his career; Jamie is the younger player that Matt mentors. While neither MC is exactly open about their sexuality, both are bi and have had prior experiences with both men and women. When Matt asks Jamie: “Does saying bi [as opposed to queer] make me sound old?” Jamie replies, “No, but asking that question does.” The bigger issue for both men is how they will be perceived from a baseball, rather than romantic, perspective: Jamie worries that his teammates will view him as a gold-digger if his relationship with Matt becomes public; Matt’s concern is that he doesn’t appear to play favorites with his suggestions to management about how best to develop the players he is coaching. I really enjoyed how ONE TRUE OUTCOME followed the MCs (and their team) over the long course of a baseball season: the highs, the lows, the wins, the losses, the stellar plays, the injuries, the weather, the fans (or lack of them). Another winner from Casey. Highly recommended.
PART TWO
Tal Bauer wrote one of my favorite books of 2022, YOU AND ME, so I was looking forward to his latest, THE REST OF THE STORY, an m/m hockey romance. However, THE REST OF THE STORY, although well-written, feels like three different stories, rather than one cohesive book, and I can’t help but think that Bauer bit off a little more than he could chew. The first 15% of the book is about a culture of (cw/tw) bullying, intimidation, and abuse that has been flourishing in the clubhouse of a losing NHL team. When veteran journeyman player Morgan is traded to the team, he begins to dismantle the dysfunctional situation. (Morgan is very good at keeping the team’s spirits up, but not so perceptive about the traumas his teammates experienced before his arrival, a fact that will bubble back to the top toward the end of the book.) The rest of the first half of the book is an angsty slow-burn that follows the team as Morgan leads the rag-tag bunch to a winning season while falling for brilliant rookie player Shea. This part of the book has strong parallels to Taylor Fitzpatrick’s THROWN OFF THE ICE: veteran hockey player, who has kept his bisexuality on the d/l, falls for rookie player, who, in addition to being gay and a virgin, is far more connected to his feelings than the older man. Most of the second half of the book lacks the bracing element of the first half. It focuses on Morgan’s & Shea’s love story (including their marriage) and is, unfortunately, written in a sappy, almost mawkish, style, with Morgan, previously presented as shut-down emotionally, suddenly shifting into hearts and flowers mode. In addition, there’s so much emphasis on Shea’s “untouched” status, it reminded me of the virginity fetishism in some of Cora Reilly’s early (m/f) mafia romances. The final 15% of the book circles back to the team issues that were first addressed at the beginning of the book (cw/tw: a devastating injury, revelations about a former coach’s behavior) with an emphasis on resolution and therapy. While I don’t think THE REST OF THE STORY is anywhere near as strong as YOU AND ME, it’s still a serviceable m/m hockey romance, so I definitely recommend it if that’s your catnip.
I was disappointed with S.E. Harmon’s BLITZED, a rather run-of-the-mill m/m romance between a professional NFL player (open about his bisexuality) and the man who runs an outreach center for homeless LGBTQ+ youth. I was hoping for more of the snarky self-awareness and humor of Harmon’s P.I. Guys duet (STAY WITH ME & SO INTO YOU), instead I got one very difficult to like MC (the athlete) and another who I was rooting more for getting the funding he needed for his charity rather than getting with the rather smug football player. A so-so read…but don’t go into it expecting another STAY WITH ME.
I’m in a general reading rut. Nothing appeals to me. I’ve been much more drawn to contemporary recently, and have really enjoyed Vee Keeland’s books. I just finished Inappropriate.
I’m sitting on my hands trying NOT to pick up the Innkeeper’s Chronicles by Ilona Andrew’s. I promised myself I could reread on vacation to Costa Rica and read the new book, Sweep of the Heart. I have 1 week till we leave, and I know if I start the series, I won’t be able to read slowly. I love it too much.
So twiddling my thumbs over here.
As far as January has gone so far-
REDACTED CARINA ADORES TITLE (solidarity forever with the Harper Collins Union)
The newest Thistle Grove book BACK IN A SPELL. I wanted to love this one more but I felt the LI’s non-binary identity wasn’t handled well.
SPARE was good! The weirdest parts made it online before I got to them. I wish the middle had been shorter and the section after meeting Meghan was longer though.
Currently reading REDACTED HARPER COLLINS TITLE and LIKE REAL PEOPLE DO by EL Massey. It was originally published on AO3 as a Check, Please! fanfiction, so curious to see how it turned out as a published book. From what I remember it wasn’t spicy at all but I did enjoy the disability rep (MC has epilepsy and a service dog).
Something of a mixed bag of late:
I enjoyed KJ Charles’ MASTERS IN THE HALL, which is a Christmas novella that overlaps with the Lillywhite Boys series (possibly my favorite series of hers, although the Will Darling books are also in the mix.) The mystery angle to the book was solid, but the romance felt slightly underdeveloped (often an issue with novellas). Would still recommend.
YOU’LL NEVER GUESS WHAT HAPPENED TO LACEY by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar. If humor=pain + distance, I needed this book to have a bit more distance from the painful bits to feel funny. It reminded me in some ways of Hannah Gadsby’s NANETTE, in that it is a piece by a comedian, but it is not itself comedy and frequently subverts the tropes of comedy to make bigger points. All that to say, I wouldn’t call this book comedy, but I would call it deeply thought provoking and one of the more challenging books I’ve read this year.
Read three of the books in Lisa Kleypas’s Hathaways series (MINE TIL MIDNIGHT, SEDUCE ME AT SUNRISE, and MARRIED BY MORNING.) Kleypas has always kind of skated the line for me in terms of gender issues, but SUNRISE and MORNING both definitely veer into toxic masculinity territory. The hero of SUNRISE, Kev, has the emotional range of a toadstool and never really does the work needed to overcome his backstory. The hero of MORNING, Leo, is just an asshole in places. It’s played off as teasing, but the humor is just too mean for me. Which is really too bad because I found all three heroines delightfully appealing. The men just needed to come up to scratch properly/have better emotional arcs.
MIDNIGHT is definitely the best of the three with a nice overlap with the Wallflowers series (the Hathaway are neighbors of the Westcliffs). I would also caution that the heroes of MIDNIGHT and SUNRISE are both Roma. Kleypas has clearly done a lot of research on the culture, and I don’t know much about it, but it sometimes reads as weirdly inauthentic or trying too hard. I don’t know enough to say if others might find it offensive, but something to be aware of.
Up next: DELILAH GREEN DOESN’T CARE. I’m not normally an f/f reader, but am finding this one charming.
Thank god for rereading. KJ Charles, Cat Sebastian, and Suzanne Brockmann have gotten me through January. Lore Olympus and Teenage Mercenary on webtoon help get me through the sunshineless weeks. I read the rerelease of Glitterland by Alexis Hall, which I still love, and that might be as close to a new book as I have gotten. The annotations were not formatted well for my e copy but absolutely worth going back and forth for. Loved the (totally unnecessary but I will take some more gravy, thank you) bonus ending. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the added short about Max and Niall, but I had forgotten who Max was, so that was never going to to be something I was clamoring for.
Oh, wait, I read Killers of a Certain Age which was fun. Good enough if you just want some mindless murderous fluff (and who wouldn’t). I like RED better, or An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good is excellent if you’re just looking for murderous older women. KoaCA is just, idk, trying a bit too hard. I didn’t actually care about any of the characters, although I very much enjoyed the ride. The Elderly Lady books felt darker and more subversive to me, less like they were just begging to be made into a zany movie. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with that, I would definitely watch either as a movie, and I know RED was made into a delightful one already.
Also: The Spare Man was unreadable, which of course might just be January’s fault. But I adore The Thin Man, and this invoked that but did not bring it. Terrible banter, and the book itself has an utter lack of joy. And look, I am sorry, but even the dog is disappointing in comparison. Asta my ass. I love the idea and lots of stuff about the setting was cool but wow was the writing plodding. And while I am very tired of how the male lead has to be the tallest of tallness all the time, but making him an actual bantamweight made me snort laugh.
Had the urge to start rereading the IN DEATH series last week. So far I’ve reread GLORY, IMMORTAL, RAPTURE, CEREMONY, and VENGEANCE with mixed results. (Definitely more aware of the dubious language choices now than I was when I binge read the series in 2012.)
VENGEANCE is the best of that lot imo and CEREMONY is, by far, the worst. The rest were varying degrees of fine.
Other than that, I’ve read a few volumes of comic books, also with varying results. (REIGN OF X volumes 5-8, by various) I grew up reading X-Men. I inevitably stray back there, enjoy the ride for awhile, then stop reading again.
And finally, I had one DNF. THE GROWNUP, by Gillian Flynn. After dnfing three of her books, I have to conclude that she’s not for me. (And, having looked up the plot summary for this one, I don’t regret not having finished it.)
I’ve also had a terrible month for reading. Witcha Gonna Do? by Avery Flynn was one of those rage reads, where I just want to yell at the hero, “For God’s sake, just TELL HER, and if not, DON’T FUCKING SLEEP WITH HER.” Sex while withholding pertinent information is one of those things that has to be done VERY carefully, and Flynn didn’t earn it.
I also DNF’ed a historical bc even if it’s set two years before the Six Acts, I don’t need any more Tory heroes and rich white-savior heroines.
Thank God I had some T. Kingfisher in reserve, although A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking was not quite as satisfying as Minor Mage, I did enjoy Nettle & Bone. I love pragmatic people just trying to do Kindness.
Happy WAYR Day, lovelies!
If you are going to read THE BONE ORCHARD by Sara A. Mueller, proceed with caution. Any romance was secondary in this book – It was a sci fi/paranormal with an excellent, twisty premise. Unfortunately for me, what seemed to be a book about a Madam who could grow versions of herself in her laboratory overthrowing an evil emperor (which even as I write this, sounds pretty awesome, and is accurate) is mostly a book about trauma. Terrible trauma. So I found it really original and excellently written and plotted, but very upsetting. I felt similarly about Gideon the Ninth – only I like the setting and characters even more in this book. It’s fantastic, but it is DARK.
Read SPELLBOUND by Allie Therin. M/M paranormal, set in the 1920’s. I realized halfway through that I have read it before – it is a solid enjoyable book and I would recommend it if it’s your kind of thing. I want to read the next one, but I’m going to take a break first.
Would not bother with Heir of Monsters by G. Bailey or Wicked Games by M.J. Scott. Others have done it better. They both just left me feeling anxious – honestly, if you read the blurbs and they sound interesting, go read Ilona Andrews’ books. All of them.
THE LONE WOLF’S REJECTED MATE by Cate C. Wells was meh – first one was still the best in this series by far.
As mentioned above, sometimes I also go through a “no more historicals” phase and then I come out of it and wonder what my problem was. I always come back to my roots, though! This time THE HEIRESS GETS A DUKE by Harper St. George sucked me in. M/F gilded age romance. The falling in love was done very well over time – it wasn’t just insta-lust. And it was realistically sexy, which is not easy if the heroine is inexperienced. If you’re in the mood for a woman struggling with the very real issue of whether she loves and trusts a man enough to hand over her wealth and agency, when she knows how badly his estate needs the money, check it out. I’m going to check out the next one in the series this weekend.
I soldiered through a mystery, DETECTIVE INSPECTOR HUSS by Helene Tursten, which was very, very, stiff? boring? old fashioned? Don’t bother. However, you should definitely pick up her short stories about the murderous old woman. AN ELDERLY LAND IS UP TO NO GOOD and AN ELDERLY LADY MUST NOT BE CROSSED. Loved those.
Finally, Lillian Lark provided another sexy monster bonbon, (or bonbone?) in FOUND BY THE LAKE MONSTER. Nice way to while away a little time on a cold, winter evening.
Enjoy the weekend! Hope you are all happy and healthy and reading some good books!
I read GAAiken’s The Heretic Royal and grinned almost the whole time. My sister read through Shelly Laurenston’s Honey Badger series so I got to enjoy a running text commentary – mostly quotes, emojis, and “Why didn’t I read this earlier?” Keep going, there’s more.
I spent three days down a Gorgette Heyer rabbithole on Libby. I’ve never read Heyer before, and I was doing some cringing and some laughing until I got to Devil’s Cub. I barely made it through. I started These Old Shades and gave up almost immediately. I did enjoy Sprig Muslin, Charity Girl, Frederica, and The Talisman Ring. I’m not sure what I think about The Reluctant Widow.
I’m back to commuting to work 3x/wk so I relistened to Patricia Brigg’s Alpha & Omega and Mercy Thompson series. I skipped Iron Crossed, but I enjoyed the rest. I like the arc of these character’s relationships. So often in romance, we only get to see the exciting falling in love parts, but I get a different kind of glow from seeing the characters think “I still choose you” as the relationships develop.
Now I’m listening to The Conscious Closet, one of the pics for my NonFiction challenge.
I’m working my way through the Inheritance Games series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Up next is THE HAWTHORNE LEGACY, book #2. The books have a KNIVES OUT meets treasure hunt vibe, which I am enjoying.
Up next, I’ll probably go back to HELLBENT in the Orphan X series by Gregg Hurwitz. I also want to check out MYSTERIES OF THORN MANOR by Margaret Rogerson.
I just finished S.L. Prater’s fantasy romance Court of Tricksters and loved it SO MUCH that I immediately ordered book 2 in the series (this book ends in a good place for the relationship but a bad place for the overarching plot, so I wasn’t frustrated by the ending but I am very eager to find out what happens next) and have been reading my way through her backlist ever since. What I loved most in Court of Tricksters was that the hero and heroine are both ancient and powerful fae (the heroine even older, to the point where a lot of her memories are lost to the mist of time) and they both feel so believably fae and *other*. Also, though, the hero is genuinely charming, and the heroine is genuinely wild in a really deep-down, plausible way, and I loved their arc together! (There’s one point where she promises him the head of his oldest enemy as a romantic gift, and he just LOVES that!)
@SBEllen, I envy you the first read. I feel like Mia Vincy does not get enough love. I just finished the “prequel” to the Longhope Abbey books. It definitely takes place before all the others, but they weren’t published in order to begin with. Anyway, A BEASTLY KIND OF EARL was historical romance perfection. A physically and emotionally scarred hero rumored to have poisoned his late wife tangles with a betrayed and abandoned heroine with a plan for revenge and redemption. There’s false identies and a fake marriage – they’re both aware it’s fake, but not that the other person knows it’s fake and why. OH THE FEELS!!! When she finally realizes that the love and fidelity of her family will not be returned even when they learn the truth of her scandal? Bitchery, there was weeping. And the banter! He has scarring on his face from a jaguar attack. He has to explain to her what a jaguar is. Later she burns him so bad for being so sensitive about a cat scratch.
Also read Victoria Helen Stone’s AT THE QUIET EDGE. I haven’t enjoyed her post JANE DOE books much, but this one was a properly twisty mystery/suspense set in one of those large storage complexes on the outskirts of town. Lily has spent years trying to overcome her husband’s embezzlement scandal and disappearance while giving their young son as normal a childhood as possible under the judgmental eyes of their small town. There are lots of secrets, young Everett’s possibly the most dangerous. There are many possible villians. The nephew cleaning out his uncle’s storage unit. The uncle. His son. The not so missing husband. The policeman who’s looking for a missing woman, or is he really looking for Lily’s ex? Lots of sinister goings on.
Currently in the middle of THE HEIR APPARENT’S REJECTED MATE from Cate C. Wells. Even though one of my resolutions was to read fewer books with characters young enough to be my grandchildren, I’m well hooked and anticipating Rosie letting her wolf lose.
The Last Resort by Sarah Stodola is (so far) a very good book about the unsustainability of beach culture.
The Reunion by Kayla Olson left me ranting about how bad the fashion choices were in that book (Chanel doesn’t loan out a gown like that for a streamer reunion and also when does VV use SATIN?!?!?) and the characterization as well.
I am still reading The Come Up by Jonathan Abrams and it is still excellent.
Next up are Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni, Chinese Groove by Kathryn Ma & maybe some Margaret Rogerson.
Finally got around to A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas. I read the first four in the series eons ago – they were probably my gateway into PNR romance (and Nalini Singh made me a full-blown addict through lockdown). It was good to be back in that world and I quickly caught up with all the characters. For those of you who are familiar with the series, this one is about Nesta and Cassian. She’s such a good storyteller, I was disappointed to reach the end of the book. I hope she’s going to give us more from that world – we still need the third sister’s story. I started her Throne of Glass series around the same time as ACOTAR and for some reason stopped after three books, even though I was enjoying them and had purchased them all. I am now motivated to continue.
Having heard the sad news about Lorelie Brown, I went to my wish list and bought Messy, by Katie Porter, yesterday. I have already finished it. My first ever rock star romance(!) and I loved it. Messy is an apt description for all of the characters. It’s an age gap story, dealing with estranged band members, one of whom is terminally ill, and whose ex-best friend falls for his daughter. We are talking fairly damaged individuals, so approach with caution.
Sally Thorne’s Second First Impressions is tooth-achingly sweet but I actually loved it. Very different to my usual reading matter but the characters are delightful. I whipped through it in a couple of afternoons. A nice palate cleanser amongst my usual angst-ridden fare.
I’ve had Jennifer Cody’s The Trouble with Trying to Date a Murderer series on my wish list for ages and last week they were on offer, so I swooped in and bagged all three. Have already read the first book and the accompanying novella. I don’t know how to describe them. Her style reminds me of Alexis Hall at his most sassy is probably the closest I can get. M/M, PNR adventures featuring an assassin and his fated mate who happens to be mute. Shenanigans ensue. Fun, light, inclusive. Recommended if they sound like your thing but could easily be irritating if they’re not.
Coincidentally, a mute character is the H in The Silent Duke by Jess Michaels. Historical Beauty and the Beast story, in which a feisty heroine sets out to seduce a childhood friend who is reluctant to ‘inflict’ himself on anyone because he perceives himself as damaged. I like her writing style, it’s easy and she brings plenty of heat. I’ve read a number of her books and have others on my TBR – a reliable go-to when I’m dithering about what to read next.
So finally we can say goodbye to January which has lasted approximately 487 days in my estimation. Bring on February…best wishes all.
It’s the season for comfort rereads and comfort comics.
Cat vs Human: Fairy Tails by Yasmine Surovec (on hoopla) – comic strip retellings of fairy tales with a twist. Cats are given starring roles which usually improves the storyline.
Webtoons:
Cursed Princess Club, Crumbs, 1HP Club. All of these are fantasy with romantic elements. Crumbs is completed and was recently released as a graphic novel. Magical bakery, broomstick flying, cute characters living their lives within a larger fantasy world. CPC is in its final 4th season, building up to a dramatic finale. 1HP Club is wrapping up season 1, it is based on a DnD game played by the author’s friends. Fun and silly tone with beautiful artwork.
Reread:
Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George. YA/middle grade fantasy with a bit of romance.
This month has been a long one, hasn’t it? Yeesh. Seems like it took forever.
I decided to give my brain a break from the streak of “dark, dark, more dark” it was on, and read Chick Magnet by Emma Barry. It was a grumpy/sunshine pairing, with the grumpy being the local vet and the sunshine being a chicken influencer (I didn’t know those were a thing, but it’s unsurprising, there are influencers for everything). I enjoyed the chickens, a cat that the hero gets later in the book (she was a very well-written kitty), and I appreciated that the hero acknowledges that his grumpiness is partially caused by depression and he gets the help he needs. TW: the heroine has an emotionally abusive ex, and while she adeptly handles his bullshit, there are some very frank discussions of her relationship with him, and how it affected her. Then I went into Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison, which I loved. Another TW: the heroine in this one has a history of child sexual abuse and her family not really believing her about it, so tread carefully. I enjoyed the heroine’s process of dealing with what happened to her (werewolf bite), the physical and emotional effects it has had on her, and how she learns to adjust her life around it, even with her friends and loved ones. She also has a snarky sense of humor, and it was fun watching her support system develop around her and accept both her and the beastie she has to periodically turn into. I decided to keep with the horror movies and read How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine. It was a very fast read, and the 90s horror references were fun, but I figured out the twist pretty early on (my ability to understand horror movie references means that I can see certain things coming miles away), and while it was fast and mostly fun, I doubt it will stick with me. But it was a good time. Now I’m reading The Last Orphan by Gregg Hurwitz. I do enjoy Evan Smoak and his journey through the world bringing brutal justice where it otherwise might not happen. I also enjoy his deadpan humor, and his adaptability and creativity when it comes to the bad people getting got. So until next time, may your socks have dinosaurs and hearts on them (mine do!).
I’m reading and loving WRATH GODDESS SING by Maya Deane right now! It’s another in the genre of expansions on Ancient Greek myths, but the names, at least, are nontraditional spellings, so it feels unknown. As for the story? It’s an Achilles entering the Trojan War who grew up as a trans woman! I love it and her so much. It’s a fascinating new perspective on an old tale.
@Anne: what happened to Lorelie Brown? I don’t follow social media, and a Google search didn’t reveal any sad news in the results. I enjoyed MESSY, but my favorite books by “Katie Porter” are their Vegas Top Gun series. Each book features exploration of a different kink, very well done, especially HARD WAY.
Hauled the brick Peripetia/Sarah Lyons Fleming to California for a 2 week stay with the parents only to find I’d already read it!!!!! I was so looking forward to getting lost in the further adventures of found family/NYC/zombie apocalypse. So downloaded book 2 of Kirsten Mortensen’s fairy tale obsessed Marion “Mayfly” Flarey, fo fum flarey (all lowercase title). Listening to The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Preston & Child.
Also read this month; Wolves of Winter, The Housekeeper, The Prisoner, once upon a flary tale and more.
Murder in All Fury by Ann Cleeland. Latest Doyle/Acton. I enjoyed the plot, but was jerked out of the story by the bad punctuation. There were many, misplaced commas ::eyeroll:: B-
Magic Tides by Ilona Andrews: Lots of fun. A
The Mayfair Mistletoe Plot by Teresa Grant. Ok, but mostly different couples chatting about What Marriage Means To Them. C
The Secret of the Lost Pearls by Darcie Wilde: I’m in the middle of this, but so far, A+
I’m reading a lot of romances from Kindle Unlimited. I liked the Kincaid Brothers series by Kaylee Ryan.
I liked books 1 and 3. I’m currrently finishing up book 4 of the Denver Mountain Lions series by Emily Silver. I loved books2, 3, and 4 in that series.
I just finished a Tamara Allen complete read. These are carefully-researched, realistic historical fiction with M/M love stories embedded. All feature an unhurried day-by-day pace which gives the characters enough time to have all the thoughts and conversations they need while also Things Happen, up to and including Mortal Peril. Non-graphic sex and not much of it, so those who like a ‘clean’ romance and also like solid history in their historical romances might want to try. All are set between 1880 and 1940.
I read ‘Downtime’ and ‘Invitation to the Dance’ last year – both were 5-star books for me. ‘The Road to Silver Plume’ and ‘Playing the Ace’ could be read as standalones but PTA is definitely a sequel to TRTSP in terms of the romance, which is more central in PTA. I rated TRTSP 4 and PTA 5. ‘Blue Skies’ is a time-travel story with multiple POV characters, undivided attention recommended; I gave it 4 stars. ‘The Only Gold’ is a deception-for-good story, and the POV character is the one deceived, so his stress & heartbreak are front and center. Another 5-star for me (meaning I’ll definitely re-read it). ‘If It Ain’t Love’ is a short story set during the Depression – I recommend as a sample. Characters being kind to each other in perceptive and important ways are common to all these books.
My favorite of the whole collection, and my favorite book of 28 read so far in 2023, was ‘Whistling in the Dark.’ Features young veterans of WWI and gave me ALL the feels. If you liked Sally Malcolm’s ‘The Last Kiss’ and/or KJ Charles’ Will Darling adventures, give ‘Whistling in the Dark’ a try. 🙂
Catching up… read the remainder of the MAGPIE LORD series by KJ Charels. Yes, magic reality/fantasy and all that is not really my thing, but Charles made it enjoyable anyway!
Also blew through Layla Reyne’s TROUBLE BREWING series. The mystery parts kept me on the edge of the seat and the feels were all there. Though you have to suspend a lot of belief, because some parts of the mysteries are so unrealistic – like the active part Dominic takes in operation or how Jamie and Mel take part in FBI operations though they are now civilians. Those parts definitely don’t stand up to closer scrutiny, but of course it’s nice to see characters from previous series turn up again – an like I said, the romance part of the series is satisfying. And after reading her other series, I knew what I was in for!
Just started KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE by Deanna Raybourn thanks to all the revies and comments here, and I am enjoying it.
@Disco Dolly Deb: I googled it, too, but Carrie Lofty’s Twitter gives a few details. Lorelie Brown – real name Cathleen Jane Brown – passed away on January 25th. Her obituary on Legacy.com mentions the cause being “complications from colon cancer”.
I’m so, SO sad that Lorelie Brown passed away this past week. Like @DiscoDollyDeb, I loved her work with Carrie Lofty (actually had the privilege of proofreading for them eons ago during a stretch where they were writing as Katie Porter). She will be deeply missed.
@oceanjasper, I stumbled onto Brigham Vaughn’s writing some time last year, and have quite enjoyed the Rules of the Road series! I’ve only read one or two of her books from other series so far, and have enjoyed them all.
@DiscoDollyDeb, thank you for the rec–I just read and enjoyed One True Outcome, and am looking forward to reading the others.
I have had a pretty excellent run so far this month as far as reads go. Naima Simone’s MR RIGHT NEXT DOOR is a redemption story that totally worked for me, and seeing the “mean girl” in a different light was powerfully moving.
My holds for A STRANGE AND STUBBORN ENDURANCE by Foz Meadows and WINTER’S ORBIT by Everina Maxwell both came in, and I very much enjoyed them both–thanks again to the recs here for them. Both m/m arranged marriage with political overtones… would read more by these authors.
And a couple ARCs also blew me away: Beth Bolden’s PLAYING DEEP (the last in the Miami Piranhas m/m football series) and Serena Bell’s WILDER AT LAST (the last in her fantastic Wilder Adventures series)… SO, SO good!! Very different, but both are compulsively readable, can’t put them down, and I’ve already been rereading them both…
@HeatherS – thanks for passing on the info
@DDD – I have one-clicked the first of the Vegas Top Gun series
@chacha1 – Whistling in the Dark – found it on offer on AmazonUK
And it’s now after 1am here…must stop browsing all your recs and get myself to bed – i have an early start tomorrow to watch the Oz Open tennis final!
@HeatherS: thank you for the update. I’m sorry to hear about Lorelei’s passing.
Over the past two weeks ~
— Four Kings (A Very Secret Garden Book 2) by Karan K Anders which I enjoyed. This is part two in a series and necessitates the reading of the first book, The Book of Firsts. Karan K Anders is a pseudonym used by author Andrea K. Höst for her books for adults.
— Bewilderment by Richard Powers for my local book group. This was a sad book (and when Flowers for Algernon was mentioned, I knew that did not bode well).
— decided to reread the first book in that series above, The Book of Firsts (A Very Secret Garden 1) by Karan K Anders. I enjoyed it once again.
— The prequel (and currently free) novella, A Sight for Psychic Eyes (Piper Ashwell Psychic P.I.) by Kelly Hashway, was not what I’d hoped for; I don’t plan to read on.
— reread with pleasure Stray (Touchstone Book 1) by Andrea K. Höst. This science fiction novel is permanently free to US Kindle readers; it is appropriate for teens and adults.
— Book Marks: An Artist’s Card Catalog: Notes from the Library of My Mind by Barbara Page. The book sounded fascinating to me, and I put in a purchase suggestion at my library. They declined the suggestion, and I placed the book on my Amazon wishlist. Some months later, the book went on sale, and I bought a copy. I promptly read the prologue and the first chapter…and then the book languished on my coffee table for fifteen plus months until I picked it up again last week. Go figure! I definitely enjoyed this book; I think it would appeal to both book lovers and artists.
— very much enjoyed Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. It’s a book with a bit of everything (friendship, life, death, disability, love, jealousy, creativity, and infidelity to name a few) and a whole lot of game designing and playing.
— another reread which I enjoyed once again ~ Lab Rat One (Touchstone Book 2) by Andrea K Höst.
FYI: Quite a few titles by Tamara Allen (mentioned by @chacha1 above) are 99¢ for US Kindle readers.
I just shrivelled up in the bath with KD Casey’s UNWRITTEN RULES and I’m still not finished. I’m enjoying it lots. I like the writing and the character building and the baseball details – I know a lot less about baseball than I do hockey, so I’m assuming they’re mostly accurate. But it’s super long and I feel like much of Zach’s internal dialogue could be condensed. I find myself losing a bit of a connection with him at times. Still, highly recommend.
I must have stolen @Disco Dolly Deb’s reading list, because I just finished Tal Bauer’s THE REST OF THE STORY. It was a slog. Almost a DNF. It reminded me of the romance stories I wrote in junior high school, to be honest. Completely unrealistic. While I’m aware that bullying and sexual abuse happens in professional sports, this was really weird – a professional hockey team which is half rookies and half veterans are left to the mercy of the team captain who abuses them until one of the veterans somehow jockeys a trade for our Hero to sweep in and save the day.
Not only does he save the day – the bully is gone literally 24 hours later, leaving all the rest of the team hero-worshipping – well, the hero. The head coach is fired by some barely mentioned owner and there are no other coaches. Essentially the Hero plays hockey, coaches the team, and manages the team along with a former women’s olympic hockey player (I liked that a woman was a major part of the organization). It was just a lot. My hockey romances don’t have to be super accurate, but give me something to boost my suspension of disbelief!
The romance read as first love teenagers. Really mushy, and I’m not a fan of virginity fetishes.
I’ve been a bit meh with Tal Bauer since the first book THE MURDER BETWEEN US which I really enjoyed. I feel like the sports books are written by somebody completely different.
Not sure what’s up next – will probably pick something from the comments!
Last week I read the book whose cover caught my eye in the books on sale post: Shake Things Up by Skye Kilaen. The writing’s a little plodding but I got very attached to the characters by the end (and the cover depicts them remarkably perfectly). Take one fierce actuary and one geeky doctor in an open relationship and shake them up with a woman who’s just been thrown a curveball in her career, and send them on a road trip. Emotional confusion follows but everyone is great to each other so of course it works out. I seriously envy Allie and Matt their relationship skills, knowing how to give each other both enough space and enough support.
I also read a YA fantasy novel with a central f/f romance, The Afterward by E. K. Johnston. It had been so highly recommended that I was puzzled by how underwhelming I found it. It was nice, it was pleasant, it had all the rep (a little too consciously: there’s that paragraph where one character explains the concept of transgender to another). The fantasy world didn’t make a lot of organic sense. The romantic couple spent a lot of time apart, and I just needed more well-written interactions between them to understand why they pine for each other. I guess it falls into the category of “I probably would have loved this if it was the first f/f fantasy-romance I ever read as a teenager” but the days are thankfully over when either I, or the world in general, is hard up for choice in sapphic stories.
I’ve had a good start to my reading year.
5/5 stars – The Unbalancing: A Birdverse Novel by R. B. Lemberg – f/nb queer fantasy. This book just blew me away. I want to tell everyone I know who loves fantasy to read this. The setting definitely feels like an homage to Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea books – a country of islands where people’s magic is tied to their true names. But it’s also completely it’s own thing.
The plot centers around two messy, complicated people falling in love while attempting to save their land from natural and magical disaster – it’s intense and devastating and ultimately hopeful (but not easy or fluffy). The culture is so very, very queer, including the way gender is understood and the way families are organized. The writing is beautiful.
5/5 stars – Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun. f/f bi contemporary romance. I loved this holiday romance – just the right mixture of humor and pathos and heart.
Yearning: Book Two of the Devotion Series by Jayce Ellis, m/f bi romance
Jayce Ellis was my best author discovery of 2022. I didn’t like this one as much as I wanted to, but there’s still a lot to like about this m/f second chance romance with a bi hero.
3.5/5 stars – The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence #1) by K.D. Edwards – mm urban fantasy. Janine and Sirius of DA both loved this trilogy and convinced me to try it. Fortunately they also both warned that that the first book was the weakest. I enjoyed it enough to want to read the second book. Lucky for me, my library system has all 3 books.